Women in the resistance

Over one quarter of the participants in the Italian Resistance during World War II were women. Their bravery, courage, and sacrifices paved the way for involvement and recognition as peers in Italy’s economic and political future.In 1943, the Resistance strengthened in Italy as many Italian men chose to join the Resistance rather than capitulate to the German policy requiring the Italian military to be incorporated into the German army or be rounded up and incarcerated for not joining. Women also joined the Partisans but their involvement in the Resistance was truly a voluntary one since they did not face these same consequences if they chose not to participate in the war effort.

The women partisans took on extremely dangerous missions for the Resistance. They relayed messages between the partisan groups as well as to and from the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Operational Groups (OGs), delivered food, money, clothing and sometimes even weapons to Resistance groups. Frequently, these female partisans had to cross German lines to accomplish their mission. Each time, they ran the risk of discovery which they knew could result in torture or their death. Still they continued valiantly with their assignments, sometimes suffering great deprivation in order to accomplish their missions.

In addition to taking part in partisan activity, women also volunteered to work in the Women’s Groups for Defense and for the Assistance of the Freedom Fighters (gruppi di difesa della donna e per l’asistenza ai combatenti della liberta) or GDD. The GDD collected food, money and clothing, which they washed and mended. These were activities that a woman around the world at the time were participating in to support their countrymen; the difference in Italy is, if these women were discovered supporting the Partisans in even these ways, they would be arrested and sometimes tortured or killed. The women in the GDD also played a key role in motivating other women into public activism and recruiting them to participate in various Resistance functions.

After the war, 200,000 Italians were registered formally as active members of the Resistance, of which 55,000 were women. After April 1945, Italian women began to participate in the politics of their country in unprecedented number. Fifty percent of the women elected to the postwar Parliament had a partisan background. The gains Italian women earned through their courageous work with the resistance resulted in them acquiring a seat at the table of Italian politics that they retain today.